1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to displays used in gaming machines such as pachinko gaming machines or slot machines having mechanical displays, such as rotation reels with associated indication portions that provide indication of symbols including various figures, designs, letters, or the like, or having electric displays, such as liquid crystal displays, CRTs, plasma displays, or electro-luminescent elements, and additionally relates to gaming machines, such as ball-shooting gaming machines, slot machines, or TV game machines.
2. Description of the Related Art
A gaming machine such as a slot machine usually has an associated mechanical variable display formed of rotatable display elements that are provided with a plurality of symbols disposed on peripheral surfaces thereof. The symbols are visible through a display window at the front of the slot machine. Alternatively, an electrical variable display is formed of indicating elements with symbols on a display screen. In response to a “start” operation by a player, a controller that includes a CPU controls a drive of the variable display to start the rotation of each rotatable display element and to stop such rotation automatically in accordance with a determined sequence after a predetermined period of time has elapsed, or in response to the initiation of a “stop” operation by the player. When the rotation of all of the rotatable display elements has ceased, there is shown a specific combination of symbols (winning pattern) in the display window. The player is then given an award by paying out gaming media such as coins. In a known gaming machine, a “win” corresponding to a predetermined plurality of winning symbols being completely positioned on the effective line of the display when rotation of the rotatable display elements ceases occurs only when a win has been established by a system that is internal to the gaming machine. In a practical machine, this happens when a sampling operation of a random number issued by a microcomputer has been determined to constitute a win.
Such gaming machines have become popular because the particular symbols that appear on the display when the rotatable display elements are stopped do not depend on the skill of the player. If such stopping of the rotatable display elements were to depend completely on the stop operation, or timing, of the player, the end result (i.e., winning or losing) of the game would be responsive to the skill of the player. If such were the case, only the relative abilities of the players would be emphasized, and the wholesomeness of the game would be compromised. A further reason for the popularity of such machines is that their designers have solved a number of problems related to management of the pay out rate of the coins for amusement shops. Accordingly, even a gaming machine of the type in which the player can effect a stop operation, as might be the case in a slot machine having stop buttons, the player cannot cause a winning pattern to be arranged on an effective line unless a win has been established by the internal system. Consequently, it is quite difficult for a player to use skill to effect a desired game result in such a gaming machine.
On the other hand, the above-mentioned gaming machine suffers from the disadvantage that even if a player has gained experience and thereby obtained a high degree of skill, the player's enhanced abilities or skill cannot effect a desired game result, and consequently, the appeal of the game to such a player is diminished. For this reason, the prior art has provided gaming machines wherein a desired game result can be achieved by a player in response to the stop operation under a predetermined game condition.
One such gaming machine, in the form of a slot machine, is disclosed in Japanese patent publication No. 5-74391. In this known slot machine, when a specified condition is achieved in the progress of the game, the controller is regulated to stop the standstill control of at least one of the reels by extraction of a random number until a predetermined times of the game. The game condition where the standstill control is stopped is termed the “challenge time” (hereinafter referred to as “CT”). The period during which the game condition is maintained is termed the “CT period,” and a game performed in the CT period is hereinafter termed the “CT game.” A pattern (i.e., a combination of symbols) indicated when movement of the reels is stopped is determined by the timing of a stop operation, illustratively by manipulation of a push button by the player. Thus, the skill of the player can affect the result of the game.
More specifically, CT is a game condition that, irrespective of whether the determination responsive to the random number is performed, a winning pattern of symbols can be arranged as a stop pattern when the variable display is stopped in response to the stop operation by the player. Some gaming machines utilize a system wherein, during the CT period, the controller does not perform a determination of a small win, which the player rather easily can achieve, but instead will perform a determination regarding a big win, thereby making same more difficult for the player to achieve.
The CT period is started on the time when a predetermined open condition is established, and expires when a predetermined close condition is established. It is very difficult for a player, particularly a beginner, to distinguish between symbols because when the reels are rotated, the symbols indicated in the movement are seen as interfering with each other.
In a gaming machine in which the CT system is applied, the player cannot measure a good timing for actuation of a push button stop operation during the CT period. The CT game therefore sometimes ends without giving any merit to the player. A player who has achieved a higher level of skill and experience for the game can, in some cases, employ the push button stop operation during the CT period to affect wins. Nevertheless, the beginner will not enjoy the game as well as the expert does.